And after hearing that the malnourished children had “fed like animals” when they were placed in foster care, Judge Philip Gregory blasted the overweight adults, saying: “Looking at these two defendants it didn’t look like they were stingy with their own portions - they’re both well nourished to say the least.”

The court heard that staff on the Jeremy Kyle show claimed that one child had a bruised face and both were “unresponsive, emotionally vacant, dirty and unkempt” when they were looking after them.

The youngsters both smelt strongly of faeces and urine even though their nappies were clean - with show staff concluding that they hadn’t been washed for some time.